


Rewrite the Stars

by megupic



Series: Rewrite the Stars Drabbles [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Drabble, Drabble Collection, F/M, LadyNoir - Freeform, aerial silks au, circus AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-12 06:51:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16868164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megupic/pseuds/megupic
Summary: Marinette and Adrien are aerial silk performers in Le Cirque du Papillon and this is their first official dress rehearsal. Still new to the circus, Marinette is shy and nervous, ESPECIALLY around the ringmaster, Monsieur Agreste aka Papillon. But Chat knows just the right things to say to earn her trust and maybe become the only person in the circus who she will allow herself to get close to.





	Rewrite the Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Aerial Silks AU masterpost](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/437989) by xnatiix, qookyquiche, and megupic. 



> This is the drabble that was the actual inspiration for what would later become my fanfiction series, also titled Rewrite the Stars (named after this piece). I wrote this just after seeing The Greatest Showman and seeing xnatiix's Aerial Silks AU and qookyquiche's beautiful artwork of the au. The link is just above if you're curious or haven't seen them before! Enjoy ;)

Marinette watched Chat untangle himself from the green and black ribbon, his body twisting and bending with a feline grace she hadn’t seen anyone else move with. Sweat glittered and dripped from his face and shoulders like diamonds. Up, around, down, and around again, he completely lost himself in the act, a puppet who could control his own strings, a force of nature in of himself.

A moment later, he unfurled for one last time and was lowered to the ground, his bare feet touching the dirt of the tent floor silently. He turned and smiled, his green eyes sparkling. He padded closer, closing the gap between them until they were only a few paces away. He extended his hand to her. “Dance with me?”

Something fluttered in her stomach. Something about him told her it was okay to take his hand. He was different from the others in this cursed circus…maybe it was because he wasn’t out for himself and he wasn’t looking at her like the strange men in the audience or even _Le Papillon_ himself looked at her: like they either wanted to eat her or undress her with their eyes. No, Chat Noir’s eyes were bright and open and clean, like dancing with him was an invitation she could accept or reject with her own choice. It wasn’t a cruel, barking order that shackled her with words and ribbons to the stakes of this slavers tent.

So she took a step forward and put her hand in his. It was surprisingly soft, the calluses on the tips of his fingers still new. As soon as their skin touched, he curled his fingers in and twined their fingers together before leading her back over to the silk ribbons in the center of the tent. He wound the ribbons around his forearm and hand and then reached his other around her waist, pulling her against him. She jumped involuntarily and a crease appeared in his brow.

“Hey, it’s okay. I won’t drop you, I promise.”

She only nodded, her gaze averted. She felt him tug on the silk and then they were shooting up. She yelped in surprise, squeezed her eyes shut,  and clung to him rather gracelessly. She winced and got ready for him to yell at her, to get into character, but the words never came. Instead, he laughed.

“Sorry, should’ve warned you first. Are you okay now?”

She opened up her eyes and found her vision filled with green. Their faces were merely inches apart. She felt herself flush.

“Mari?”

“Uh-u-um…yes. Fine now,” she breathed.

He breathed out a chuckle. “Good. Ready?”

That’s when she noticed they were still hanging in the air like a fly caught in a spider’s web.

“WHAT’S THE HOLDUP YOU TWO?!” Mr. Agreste yelled up at them from the ground. Without meaning to, she flinched.

“Ignore him,” Chat whispered, capturing her attention again. “Just keep your eyes on me. It’s just you and me up here. No one else.”

Then he started moving. Slowly at first, they twirled around and around in lazy circles until she reached out and took a section of the black ribbon. His grip on her eased and just like that, she slipped into Ladybug’s role and they were dancing in the air. Around and around, up and down, the soft silk slipping through her fingers and wrapping around her legs. The entire time she kept her eyes on his, losing herself in the pool of green, soft and warm. They tangled together and then apart, picking up the pace as they got more comfortable with each other in their moves until the end when their ribbons caught on each other and then they were spinning fast and closer together until they collided— but it didn’t hurt. Somehow her arms and legs found their places around him and his arm found its place at her waist again, like two pieces of a puzzle, and then they were floating down to the ground.

Marinette’s lungs burned and her face burned with a blush that probably rivaled her red mask, but for the first time since coming to _Le Papillon_ ’s circus, she felt warm.


End file.
